Shelby defeats Lexington in thrilling district final, advances to regionals
ONTARIO – Shelby boys basketball advanced to the regional semifinals with a 62-52 victory in a titanic district final matchup over Lexington.
The state Division II No. 2 (Shelby) and No. 3 (Lexington) ranked teams battled in front of a packed, boisterous crowd Saturday evening in Ontario.
In front of an overflowing crowd, this year’s Whippet squad becomes the fourth boys team in Shelby history to advance to regional play. The 2020-21 was the last team to advance to regionals. This year’s team has also set the record for the most wins in a season, 23-2, eclipsing the 1956-57 team led by Shelby legend Larry Siegfried.
Shelby (23-2) will now play Lima Shawnee (196) on Thursday evening at Bowling Green State University. The regional semifinal contest will be the second game of the night, with tip-off scheduled at 8 p.m. Shawnee knocked the Whippets out of regional play in the 202021 season, 76-67. Balanced scoring, stingy defense and a little revenge propelled the Whippets to a trip to Bowling Green.
The Whippets lost a heartbreaker in last year’s districts to Lexington, a loss that served as motivation for a year for Shelby’s Allohioan, Alex Bruskotter.
“This means everything to me. Last year, we lost in the district semis to Lexington and it hurt so bad,” he said. “I was mentally, physically and emotionally invested in that game and to go out like that was devastating. “I worked myself to exhaustion every day in the offseason just trying to get one of the worst feelings out of my head,” Bruskotter said. “Coming back a year later and doing it on the biggest stage means everything to me.”
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway spoke about his team’s victory, especially for the seniors.
“I am just so happy for those eight seniors,” Gallaway said. “They have done everything we have asked and then some. We really feel our group separates themselves from others by how connected we are. Just so proud of the work they have put in and how true they have stayed to the process.”
Gallaway added: “We told our guys before the game, that at some moment, take in the crowd and be thankful for this experience. There are not many HS athletes that ever get a chance to play in an environment like tonight.”
The Whippets battled back from a rough second and early third quarter to outscore Lexington 11-2 to end the third quarter and take a 41-33 lead heading into the fourth.
Shelby led the first two and a half quarters before Lexington’s Brayden Fogle hit a bucket to give Lexington a 29-28 lead. After the teams traded baskets, the Whippets went on their third-quarter run. Bruskotter hit an and/one then sank a pair of free throws to take a 35-31 lead.
Issaiah Ramsey then hit two free throws to up the lead to 37-31.
After Lexington hit a free throw, Tanner Hartz responded with a made free throw. Karsen Homan and Bryson Baker closed out the third quarter scoring with a bucket apiece to give Shelby a 41-33 heading into the final stanza.
Shelby jumped out to a 47-36 fourth-period lead after Casey Lantz hit a runner and a free throw, followed by a Brayden Devito three-pointer with 5:18 left in the game.
After the Minutemen scored on a layup, Lantz hit an and-one, and Devito hit a pair of free throws to give Shelby a 14-point lead (5238) with three minutes left.
The teams traded baskets until Lexington was forced to foul in the game’s final minute. The Whippets hit five free throws to seal the victory and trip to BG.
Gallaway spoke about changes the Whippets made in the third to change the momentum.
“We mixed some things up defensively,” he said. “I thought the zone was a good change of pace to just keep Lex uncomfortable. Our guys did a great job finishing defensive possessions with a rebound. We didn’t panic and just kept getting stops.”
Shelby jumped out to an early 23-11 after the first quarter but went scoreless the first half of the second quarter, not lighting up the second-quarter scoreboard until the 3:16 mark. The Whippets were outscored 11-5 in the second quarter.
The Whippets had four players reach double digits in scoring. Bruskotter, who played 31 minutes, led Shelby with 20 points. Bruskotter also had a gamehigh 11 rebounds and five assists. Ramsey knocked in 13 points. Devito scored 11, and Lantz tallied 10 points. Bryson Baker scored five and Tanner Hartz hit a free throw.
The Whippets shot 21-47 from the field, while Lexington shot 20-51. Shelby hit 16-23 (70%) from the free-throw line, while Lexington was a woeful 5–13 (38%).
The win is the fourth trip for Whippet boys basketball *to regionals.
The 1956-57 team, led by Larry Siegfried, defeated Lima Senior 55-45, then lost to Toledo Macomber in the regional finals 56-41. The 1998-99 team, led by Josh Steele, was defeated by Lima Shawnee 59-50.
The 2020-21 team, led by TJ Pugh and Cody Lantz, also lost to Shawnee in the regional semifinals 76-67.
This year’s squad features eight seniors who have led the Whippets to a 23-2 record and finished ranked 2nd in Division II AP poll.
ONTARIO – Shelby boys basketball advanced to the regional semifinals with a 62-52 victory in a titanic district final matchup over Lexington.
The state Division II No. 2 (Shelby) and No. 3 (Lexington) ranked teams battled in front of a packed, boisterous crowd on Saturday evening in Ontario.
In front of an overflowing crowd, this year’s Whippet squad becomes the fourth boys team in Shelby history to advance to regional play. The 2020-21 was the last team to advance to regionals. This year’s team has also set the record for the most wins in a season, 23-2, eclipsing the 1956-57 team led by Shelby legend Larry Siegfried.
Shelby (23-2) will now play Lima Shawnee (19-6) on Thursday evening at Bowling Green State University. The regional semifinal contest will be the second game of the night, with tip-off scheduled at 8 p.m. Shawnee knocked the Whippets out of regional play in the 2020-21 season, 76-67. Balanced scoring, stingy defense and a little revenge propelled the Whippets to a trip to Bowling Green.
The Whippets lost a heartbreaker in last year’s districts to Lexington, a loss that served as motivation for a year for Shelby’s All-ohioan, Alex Bruskotter.
“This means everything to me. Last year, we lost in the district semis to Lexington and it hurt so bad,” he said. “I was mentally, physically and emotionally invested in that game and to go out like that was devastating. “I worked myself to exhaustion every day in the offseason just trying to get one of the worst feelings out of my head,” Bruskotter said. “Coming back a year later and doing it on the biggest stage means everything to me.”
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway spoke about his team’s victory, especially for the seniors.
“I am just so happy for those eight seniors,” Gallaway said. “They have done everything we have asked and then some. We really feel our group separates themselves from others by how connected we are. Just so proud of the work they have put in and how true they have stayed to the process.”
Gallaway added: “We told our guys before the game, that at some moment, take in the crowd and be thankful for this experience. There are not many HS athletes that ever get a chance to play in an environment like tonight.”
The Whippets battled back from a rough second and early third quarter to outscore Lexington 11-2 to end the third quarter and take a 41-33 lead heading into the fourth.
Shelby led the first two and a half quarters before Lexington’s Brayden Fogle hit a bucket to give Lexington a 29-28 lead. After the teams traded baskets, the Whippets went on their third-quarter run. Bruskotter hit an and/one then sank a pair of free throws to take a 35-31 lead.
Issaiah Ramsey then hit two free throws to up the lead to 37-31.
After Lexington hit a free throw, Tanner Hartz responded with a made free throw. Karsen Homan and Bryson Baker closed out the third quarter scoring with a bucket apiece to give Shelby a 41-33 heading into the final stanza.
Shelby jumped out to a 4736 fourth-period lead after Casey Lantz hit a runner and a free throw, followed by a Brayden Devito three-pointer with 5:18 left in the game.
After the Minutemen scored on a layup, Lantz hit an and-one, and Devito hit a pair of free throws to give Shelby a 14-point lead (5238) with three minutes left. The teams traded baskets until Lexington was forced to foul in the game’s final minute. The Whippets hit five free throws to seal the victory and trip to BG. Gallaway spoke about changes the Whippets made in the third to change the momentum.
“We mixed some things up defensively,” he said. “I thought the zone was a good change of pace to just keep Lex uncomfortable. Our guys did a great job finishing defensive possessions with a rebound. We didn’t panic and just kept getting stops.”
Shelby jumped out to an early 23-11 after the first quarter but went scoreless the first half of the second quarter, not lighting up the second-quarter scoreboard until the 3:16 mark. The Whippets were outscored 11-5 in the second quarter. The Whippets had four players reach double digits in scoring. Alex Bruskotter, who played 31 minutes, led Shelby with 20 points. Bruskotter also had a gamehigh 11 rebounds and five assists. Ramsey knocked in 13 points. Devito scored 11, and Lantz tallied 10 points. Bryson Baker scored five and Tanner Hartz hit a free throw.
The Whippets shot 21-47 from the field, while Lexington shot 20-51. Shelby hit 16-23 (70%) from the free-throw line, while Lexington was a woeful 5–13 (38%).
The win is the fourth trip for Whippet boys basketball to regionals.
The 1956-57 team, led by Larry Siegfried, defeated Lima Senior 55-45, then lost to Toledo Macomber in the regional finals 56-41. The 1998-99 team, led by Josh Steele, was defeated by Lima Shawnee 59-50.
The 2020-21 team, led by TJ Pugh and Cody Lantz, also lost to Shawnee in the regional semifinals 76-67. This year’s squad features eight seniors who have led the Whippets to a 23-2 record and finished ranked 2nd in Division II AP poll.